Life Expectancy At All-time High In Massachusetts

Life expectancy for people in Massachusetts has hit an all time high. WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

The Massachusett Department of Public Health report said overall life expectancy was 80. 7 years in 2009…an improvement of more than 2 years over a decade.. The state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Judy Ann Bigby credits better access to medical care and an emphasis on preventing disease.

Mortality rates from strokes, heart disease, cancer and diabetes all dropped and deaths from HIV-AIDS have declined dramatically…At the height of the AIDs epidemic there were nearly a thousand deaths a year.. in 2009 tthere were 124 deaths.